Young Butterfly

A young pegasus spread her small wings in preparation to take to the skies until thinking twice and snapping them back to her sides. She struggled to fly as her balance was hard to maintain, not forgetting the cruel ponies who teased her about her weak abilities. She thought it best to practise in secret, away from civilisation so nopony could judge her efforts.

Every afternoon as soon as the school bell rang she trekked to her hiding place within what she thought to be a safe area of the Everfree Forest. She set down her saddle bag in a small but clear area that was thickly surrounded by tall trees. Then she began practising.

Sometimes her efforts would work and she could lift herself off of the ground and reach to a good height and land with just a small stumble, but for most of her attempts no amount of struggle availed her.

That day she had yet again no luck, recently she had no progress whatsoever during her lessons. Her petite creamy yellow body fell to the forest floor with a thud.

Small animals of many species that she had befriended during her visits emerged from there habitats and surrounded the pegasus as she let out a big sigh, "I think no matter how hard I try I will never be able to fly like a normal pegasus".

She wept and held her head low, stroking one of the rabbits that had nudged her for comfort.

She wiped a tear from her cheek and decided it may be a good idea to take a break in which she could feed and tend to the forest animals. The pegasus greatly enjoyed spending time with the animals. Seeing there faces light up as she aided them always planted a large smile across her face.

When she picked berries and scavenged nuts she had found herself humming a tune that then gradually had turned into her singing in the most beautiful of voices. The twisted branches of the trees seemed as if they swayed in sync as her voice echoed through the forest.

However, little did she know a tall figure had appeared and hid behind one of the trees nearby.

Only after a few short moments later the pegasus stopped her angelic voice, retreated from collecting resources and frozen in place. She had heard rustling from behind a tree, the tree where the figure hid. Curious if it was a forest animal she intended on investigating and took timid steps forward. As she grew closer beads of sweat drained down her pale face and fear took over her body when she suddenly saw the outline of the dark figure. Stopping in her tracks her body froze stiff in fear.

Silence

She took a large breath of air, swept a streak of sweat off her brow with her shaky hoof, "Wh...who's th-there?" She stuttered, taking a small step back.

Silence

"You...your not going to...hurt m-me are you?" She questioned again and took another, this time larger, step back.

"Um...n-no" mumbled the figure.

The young pony gasped and squinted her eyes to try and see the figures features, "Are you going to come out?" She said softly, feeling a bit more confident knowing it's intentions were not to hurt her.

Silence.

The figure then let out a large sigh and slowly revealed himself to the light of the sun.

As he did the pegasus took yet another step back when the rays bounced off of his fur and scales. She quietly gasped and awed at his mismatched body parts of lion. eagle and goat to name a few. He stood tall but however did not seem to be fully grown.

His body drooped over once he saw the ponies gawked face, "I know. I'm an ugly monster" He sighed.

"No, no! I've just never seen one of you before" She declared.

He looked up from the mossy forest floor and met the ponies eyes, "I'm a draconequus".

"Oh well Mr dra-con-a-guess my name is Fluttershy". He smiled at her attempt to say his species name.

"The name's Discord".

"Nice to meet you Discord" Fluttershys teal eyes beamed as she held out her hoof to shake is lion paw.

Fluttershy had a large fear of meeting new ponies, especially ones that hid in the darkness. Just the thought of it would make her wince but somehow she felt brave enough to introduce herself, besides he's not exactly a pony after all. Discord returned her favour and Fluttershy grinned with delight. She immediately after became curious about Discord and wanted to learn more about him. She trotted over and delicately sat down on a patch of grass and with her hoof she patted the space beside her. He understood her gesture, so he sat down gingerly next to the intrigued pegasus. Fluttershy gazed directly up Discord, he seemed much taller now that he was close up.

She bounced back from her thoughts and realised he was twiddling his thumb and claw and finally asked her question, "Where do you come from?".

"Well I was rather content living in the Everfree Forest until Princess Sunbutt found me and rudely insisted on taking me into her care. In other words she wanted to keep me under control and stop me causing mischief".

Fluttershy giggled at his remark. "Celestia is such a lovely princess" She hesitated "But...but what about your parents?".

Discord quietly sighed and stared deeply at the ground. He didn't have to say anything for Fluttershy to understand, she gave a slight nod, "It's ok. I don't have a father if that makes you feel any better" she softly said still looking up at him.

A side ways smile appeared on Discords face as he looked back down at Fluttershy.

As she gazed up she tilted her head past the draconequus and noticed the position of the sun, the look of dread then crossed her face.

"What's wrong?" Discord raised an eyebrow.

"It's starting to get pretty late, I should really get home before my mother starts to worry".

"Ah, ok" Discord said as he got up. Fluttershy rushed over and picked up her saddle bag then started to walk in the direction of her home. She looked back, "I'll see you tomorrow Discord!" She called waving her hoof before trotting into a cluster of trees.

"Mother I made a new friend today!" Fluttershy said excited as she hopped onto a wooden chair.

"I do hope It's not another forest animal Fluttershy" Fluttershys mother said bluntly while she placed a plate of hay on the worn wooden table in front of her daughter.

"No, not exactly. We only got to speak for a little while but I think he seems absolutely lovely already" Fluttershy insisted.

"Well that's nice dear" Her mother replied emotionless and joined Fluttershy at the table.